


Promise Me

by UlisaBarbic



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Adult Fear, F/M, Family, Family Feels, Fear, Fluff and Angst, Goku loves his family, Late Night Conversations, Mother-Son Relationship, Pre-Android Saga, Preparation, Smart Son Goku (Dragon Ball), Three Year Gap (Dragon Ball), Training, goku loves chichi, son family, training for the androids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-14 00:42:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29659830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UlisaBarbic/pseuds/UlisaBarbic
Summary: Born from a suggestion by kaychi! Taking place after my “From A Certain Point of View” story, Goku and ChiChi discuss the training for the Androids and Goku makes his wife a promise.
Relationships: Chi-Chi/Son Goku (Dragon Ball)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 22





	Promise Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kaychi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaychi/gifts).



ChiChi pulled her hair down out of its bun, letting her hair spill over her shoulders. Throughout the day, she kept it up tight and taut, away from her work. Night time, once the bath had eased away her stress as much as hot water was capable of and her stomach sat full, was her chance to unwind. Her hair coming down was symbolic of being able to release all the intensity of the day. 

Tonight though, she had a mission in mind and she didn’t have to wait long. She was rubbing the last of some lotion into her legs, trying to rub out some razor burn when Goku trotted in from down the hall. She met him with one of her quiet smiles. “Gohan asleep?”

Grinning, he sat on the bed, stretched and stripped off his outer shirt, down to his under clothes. “Out like a light. He don’t usually snore but he was tonight.”

She bit down her initial response of worry. “But he’s okay?” She finally settled on that as an appropriate response. That wasn’t unreasonable to ask, given the boy was only seven!

Goku flopped down on the bed.“He’s just fine, Chi. Little bruised and sore but fine. We’re taking a half day tomorrow. Maybe we’ll do something in the afternoon. You wanna go walk the mountain like we used to? Gohan’d love a family picnic.” Laughing lightly, he added “I would too!”

Letting warmth take her face at the thought—no fighting, just talking and playing and eating and exploring under the trees—yes, that sounded glorious.

“Chi? What’s wrong?”

The concern in his voice was touching. She ought not have been surprised. For all his faults, her Goku could be remarkably observant. You could be forgiven for not thinking as much but it was true. Rolling onto her side, telling her long hair pool on the pillow, she voiced, “Gohan wants you to train him to be faster.”

Goku, a bit baffled, scratched his head. “Well, yeah. We talked about that two days ago.” He frowned. “Is it buggin’ you?”

Heaving a great sigh, she confessed, “Goku ALL of this is buggin’ me!” She wound her hands tight into the sheets. “None of this is right! None of its fair! My son shouldn’t have to be preparin’ to fight a war! You neither! It’s not fair.”

Goku shifted, parked his back against the headboard and reached over, letting his hands pull through her tresses. “I know. But that’s how it is.”

“Why?” Her voice cracked. “Why is it always MY family? Why can’t someone else take up the cause? Why can’t our military do its damn job? Why do YOU have to do it?”

Goku gave her the only answer he could think of, an honest one. “Cause we’re the only ones that can.”

Closing her eyes, she mused, “You know, Gohan tol’ me somethin’ similar.”

“He did?” Brightness and optimism flowed out of his voice and ChiChi both blessed and cursed it.

“He did. He said he couldn’t stand by and do nothin’ when he had the ability to do somethin’.”

Goku smiled, “Yeah, that sounds like him.”

“It shouldn’t be!” She protested. “If none of this Saiyan stuff happened, he’d be able to study and play and be a normal little boy!”

Silence dictated the room a time before Goku said, “No, he wouldn’t.”

ChiChi sat right up. “What are you talkin’ about? If there was no Vegeta attacking the earth, no Freeza, no Androids then—“

“Gohan would still be half-Saiyan, Chi.” He took her hands. “I know you worry, I worry too. Makes me feel better when I’m beside him because then I can keep an eye on him.”

A small smile passed her lips, “I feel better about that too. But Goku, if we didn’t have all these threats, there’s so much Gohan could be!”

“And he can still do those things, Chi.” Goku treaded forward carefully. “Chi, can I offer you some...thoughts?”

She eyed him and saw no tease about his words. She gave a nod.

“Even if we didn’t have the threats, Gohan would still be pulled to fight, one way or another.”

“Not my little boy!” She all but shouted. “Piccolo pushed him into this!”

“He did,” Goku admitted. “But I wanted to teach him martial arts. We talked about it a lot and the way he watched me, it was just a matter of time. But have you ever watched him spar, Chi? Really watch him? How his eyes light up? How he grins when he thinks he’s bested me? He lights up.”

“He lights up when he’s learning too,” she argued. “I see it. When he’s found something new he didn’t know before, he gets so excited. Don’t you DARE tell me they’re the same thing because only one of those might get him killed!”

Goku considered his response. “Maybe studyin’ is safer. But that don’t mean it’s better.”

ChiChi stared at him, words frozen on her lips. What was he SAYING?!

To his credit, he gave a sheepish smile. “I know but listen. Fighting—or at least a form of it—he has to have that Chi.”

“Why?” She retorted. “You give me one good reason why my little boy has to fight!” She folded her arms. “I’ll wait.”

“Because that’s part of who he is! He ain’t human, Chi!”

She withdrew, slightly, when Goku raised his voice. He did it so rarely that she nearly forgot what he sounded like. But like always, he deflated like a balloon afterwards and his face went melancholy.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to yell. But this is important, Chi. I know we just found out about me and you and I only know what it’s like to be raised a human way but Gohan isn’t JUST human.” He set her with a serious but kind gaze. “I know it’s so easy to forget but he’s not. We can’t just pretend he is.”

She went quiet. Learning about Goku’s heritage had thrown her for a loop.She didn’t really think anyone could blame her for that. His year in space, while far too long, had let her process, consider, come to terms. 

He was still the man she married, make no mistake. Love was love. Her feelings didn’t change but it was still a lot to take in. Explained a lot about him, honestly. 

He was right though. She liked to pretend the same drive that sent Goku grinning into a battle didn’t exist, to some degree, in her son but that was a lie. The way he’d smiled at her, talking about growing faster, stronger. About using his abilities to help people. It was a different end goal, different motivator but the drive remained. 

Wrapping her arms around her body, she said, “But he never needed it before. Why is it suddenly different now?”

“He did,” Goku answered. “Remember how he’d find a piece of bamboo and swing it around, sayin’ he was the hero goin’ to save the girl?”

A light giggle broke her solemn face. “Oh yes. I got roped into that so many times.” She lost herself in nostalgia for a time. Oh, now that she thought back, yes. She saw it. Was little, subtle but there. Her son hadn’t suddenly grown an interest. He just now had an outlet for it.

“Goku, help me understand. This fighting—I know you’ve always loved the martial arts but that’s not what you’re talkin’ about, is it?”

Goku sighed. “Martial arts is the safest way I know to give it to him. It’s a way to get what he needs. And it’s most fulfilling for me—“

“But why? You say he needs to fight. That you NEED to fight. Why? Why can’t you push that to something else? Like being a police officer or something?”

“I’d probably accidentally hurt someone,” he confessed. “But it wouldn’t be the same. It’s...” He bit his lower lip, trying to think. “Chi, remember when you were pregnant with Gohan and you started to get all weak and tired all the time?”

Smiling a little, she gave a nod. “The doctors said I was anemic. Gohan was sucking up all my iron.” Her eyes softened in memory. It had been a horrible time for her—being weak was not a position she was used to nor was it one she enjoyed. But Goku had been amazing. He gathered meat and veggies for her from everywhere he could, he helped her exercise, he got supplements. He was just his all around good natured self. “I’ll always remember that.”

“Think of fightin’ for me and for Gohan like that.” Goku offered. “Fightin’ is our iron. Or our potassium or calcium. It’s somethin’ we HAVE to have. It’d be like askin’ you to go the rest of your life anemic like that but without none of help. Or like askin’ you to go without water.”

She frowned at the comparison. She’d always considered the fighting-love of Saiyans to be like a drug. Intense, powerful but ultimately something one could break if they had the will power and assistance to do so. That was the mentality she’d approached fighting with in regards to her son—get him involved in other things, direct his energy elsewhere. Much as she was still respectful of martial arts, it seemed to cause such trouble and...

But the way Goku described it.

“It’s...” she paused, considered her reply. “It’s not just a desire, is it?”

Goku shook his head. “Oh, I won’t lie and say that ain’t part of it but that’s not the drive. The drive is deeper than that. Asking me or Gohan to go without fightin’ is like askin’ you to go without iron or water. I can’t explain it better than that.”

“No, I get it, I think. It’s a need, not a desire.” She looked skyward. “I wish it wasn’t Goku. I wish both of you could stay here with me and we could be a normal family.”

A bit awkward, Goku remarked “Well, we wouldn’t be us if we did that.” He added “I mean, the normal part, not the staying with you part. I like it when we can stay with you!”

Laughing finally because only her Goku could make a statement like that sound so genuine, ChiChi closed her eyes. “Yeah, I suppose that wouldn’t be you, would it?”

Maybe that was really her issue? Imaging what could be instead of what was? If her Goku didn’t get a drive out of fighting, didn’t feel the need to press forward, grow stronger and constantly improve himself, it wouldn’t be her Goku, would it? And wasn’t it his strength, his honesty, his truly pure nature that had won her heart in the first place?

Had she become so accustomed to looking for fear and anxiety that she forgot to see that anymore? An understandable response, really. Survivalism at its core. Protect your family and to do that, know what to watch for.

It had become an odd unconscious mantra.

And what of her Gohan? Was not one of the things she admired so about him his gentle heart? His desire to aid and improve the lives of others? She and Goku always tried to implant a sense of morality in him.

Apparently, she and her husband had succeeded.

“I love you, Goku,” she said simply. “And I love Gohan. So much it hurts sometimes. I wish I could wrap both of you up and keep you safe from everything.” She sighed. “But I can’t. And even if I could, that wouldn’t be much of a life for you, would it?”

Reaching over, Goku started to part her hair again with his fingers. “No. And I think deep down, it wouldn’t be much of a life for you either. Much as you say you want a normal life, Chi, I don’t think you do.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Well, yeah,” the answer was confident, sure, certain. “Ya married me. Why would you have done that if you wanted a boring life?”

She laughed. Loud and free. What could she say to that? He was right. “Well, if having you and Gohan means a hectic life then so be it. You’re worth the price.” She laid there, quiet, just letting Goku play with her hair. “But...Goku. I...does Gohan have to enter this battle? What if it’s like the future you told me about all over again?”

“It won’t be. We’ll be stronger. Ready. And we’ll need Gohan, Chi. He’s got a power to him. I can’t put my finger on it but it’s there. And he’d hate me if I made him stay behind.”

Part of her said that Gohan could be mad and stay safe but it wasn’t as simple as that. If Goku said they needed him, if Gohan said he wanted to help, if they were going to be as prepared as they could be...

It was nerve wracking all the same.

“Chi, I’ll make you a promise.”

She shifted her eyes, looked up at him. He met her with kindness and patience. “A promise?” She echoed.

A nod. “One thing this training is letting me do is to know exactly what Gohan’s limits are. And I’ll do the same thing when we meet up with these Androids. I’ll see for myself where they stand. If we get to that battle and I think for even a second that Gohan can’t handle it, I’ll send him away.”

A lightness took her heart. “You promise?”

“I promise, Chi. I don’t want him in danger anymore than you do.” His eyes told no lie. “If I don’t think he can handle it, I’ll send him away.”

She nuzzled into his side, resting her head on his hip “Thank you. He might not listen to you, you know. He can...well, be like me sometimes.”

“All the more reason for us to train. Maybe Piccolo had his own methods but if he’s gonna be enterin’ a battle with me, he’s gonna listen.”

ChiChi relaxed, closed her eyes. “I trust you to train him right. And keep Piccolo from bein’ too harsh. Make him strong, okay? Stronger than anything that comes his way.”

“I don’t know how to do anything else,” he said with a smile. 

“I know.” She took a breath in, held it for a moment then settled, Goku still running his fingers through her hair. “And if what I can do is keep ya fed and clean and clothed, then I’ll do that. You just make sure you—both of you—come back to me.”

“Promise.”

And when had her Goku ever broken a promise?


End file.
